30 Foods Evie Eats
Evie has gotten better with eating
(Originally posted on Aug 6, 2021)
Random Observation/Comment #726: Being a good eater is important in Chinese culture. Best Chinese kids finish everything on their plate/bowl and ask for seconds.
Why this List?
Evie is at the age where she’s super picky about what she eats. We do the “3 bite rule”, but I think she’ll just love on carbs and chicken nuggets for the next few years. We’ve tried a few techniques to infuse other foods via sauces and food processors, but its had spotty success.
I write this list so I can keep track of what she actually eats and what we can vary. One of the hardest lists I’ve ever written, TBH. Hopefully just adding a few more to the list can give us some diversity.
Chicken nuggets – Preferably ones that look like dinosaurs
French fries / tater tots – Probably her favorite food that is borderline junk food
Thinly sliced Salami and cold cut ham/turkey – She’ll just eat it from the packet
Apples – This is actually the go-to fruit that she’ll eat whole
Mangos – Must be cut into little cubes
Cereal – Default to multi-grain cheerios, but sometimes some cinnamon toast crunch squares
Pasta – Penne, macaroni and spaghetti shapes have passed the test, but usually nothing with too much sauce
Mac and cheese – Sometimes she’s not in the mood for this, but she’ll eat it when everyone else does. Not good with shells.
Pearl Cous Cous – I can add some cheese and pesto to this, so it’s a good rotation
Chopped up saute mushrooms – Not by itself, but a good topping that doesn’t get automatically brushed away
Chopped up sausage bites – The precooked ones that mix some apple and chicken are great
Whole hot dogs and buns (deconstructed) – Raw dog eaten separately
Meatballs – I can sneak some stuff in here like spinach and garlic. As long as I get a good crust, she’ll like it.
Cheese sticks – Eaten like a psycho without peeling into string bites
Yogurt – Only the vanilla Activia one, for some reason
Smoothie – We make it with banana, acai packet, peanut butter, and chia seeds – solid breakfast choice
Pancakes – Surprisingly without syrup
Waffles – Yes, but not always if it has blueberries in them
Avocado toast – I need to make it in a specific way for her to take some nibbles (she seems to have regressed from avocados)
Scrambled eggs – I need to make an omelet first and then cut it up to cook the rest of the way. Tried the regular scramble and she didn’t like it
Noodles – Mostly somen thin noodles or longevity noodles with a little bit of sesame oil or just by itself (update: ramen is good for broth drinking, but only if its from Neko Ramen)
Pan fried tofu – I make these tofu squares that get pretty crispy
Mapo tofu – This is how we sneak in a little meat into the non spicy sauce on rice
White rice – just plain white rice – I think she likes Indian basmati rice the most
Pizza – Should have been higher on this list, but a plain pizza is a solid choice. Tomato sauce count as a vegetable?
Healthy chips (plantains, cauliflower) – So this is junk food, but it’s a little bit healthier. We’ll call it a win.
Sunflower seeds – Good one to give her some protein and ask her to count them
Raisins – Also a good one we use to balance out her fiber
Northern white beans – this is actually a nice trick in our mixed vege combinations because the beige just blends in with the other beige things she only eats
Ketchup – Definitely her mother’s daughter
Things she used to eat a lot that we want to rotate back in:
Bananas
Pineapples
Watermelon
Mashed potatoes
Dumplings
Congee
Things she always asks for that we save for special food bribing (eat X food first and then you get something special):
Tando’s snack room of fruit snacks
Snack bars
Pretzel sticks
Ice cream
Juices of all kinds
Things we’re hoping she’ll eat:
Peas and carrots (or anything green) – Seems like a good vege mix to have as a back pocket addition to dishes
Fish or some other meats besides lunch meat (update - she eats some white flakey fish now!)
Sauces in general – So much good flavor in dipping
Burgers or sandwiches – why is everything deconstructed? (update - she’ll have a cheese burger, but only from MickeyD’s)
Soups – it’s such a good texture that would give me a lot more room for creativity
I’m not mad at her for being picky because all kids this age are limited in their food preferences. We’ll just have to keep pushing her to try new things.
~See Lemons Get Creative